Forerunner 645M vs. Forerunner 245M

Actually, they weren't released simultaneously, the XS (the more expensive one) came out in September 2018, the XR (the less expensive one) came out in October 2018.

Try to be accurate, not to say charitable: I didn't say they were released simultaneously. I said they were introduced (i.e. announced) simultaneously, so buyers knew what their options would be. Contrast with Garmin, which was deleting 245-related threads on this forum right up until 2 days before the announcement. And they're still selling the 645 even though its pricing/features combination makes very little sense.

If the watches were released at the same time, yeah, the current scheme doesn't seem ideal. However, at the time I bought my FR 645 it had the features I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. Now (a year later) some of the features are on the 245. Shrug. It wasn't out then. The new 945 has some features I'd really like (e.g. the map) but it's not at a price I'm willing to pay. Maybe in a year or whenever, the 655 will have maps, and be at a price point more in line with my budget. I'll see when the time comes. (my daughter would love to get her hands on my 645 like she currently has my 235, although she'd also like a watch with music player... I didn't bother getting it for myself since I'm deaf, talk about a useless feature ;-) )

Garmin does not have to add some new software features of the 245 to the 645, but it would be nice if they did. I own a 645 for almost a year and is has been a great watch. I bought it with the impression that Spotify would not be added and Garmin Pay would not be available in my country (like Apple Pay is still not available). And to my surprise both became available in the first 6 months after I bought the watch and work great. So.. I (still) am a happy customer. But, if I would have bought the 645 a few weeks ago, I probably would be a less happy customer now, having just payed $100 more for a watch with less running features than the 245. But... these things happen in business. I guess Garmin will sell much less 645’s now the 245 has been released. If you don’t need Garmin Pay, barometric altimeter and stainless steel bezel, the 245 is the better running watch now.

I see comments about Garmin cannot add new features to older watches because then they would need to change all its advertising? But... didn’t they add features already that were not advertised when the 645 was released? E.g. Spotify support, Galileo support, manual calibration of the barometric altimeter. And if you look at the specs of the 645 on Garmin’s website, things are already incomplete and outdated, so they don’t seem to be bothered about that.

We'll have to disagree on that one. I do understand Garmin's numerical progression on their running devices, but the 945 and Fenix 5 Plus are in the same range. The 935 has always been referred to as the "plastic Fenix 5". Other than body composition and maps, the 935 and Fenix 5 were the same watch.

I agree with you when looking at features of both watches. Then a Fenix 5 and FR935 are in the same range. I look at it from a different naming perspective.... E.g. vivoactive, Forerunner, Fenix, etc,. Within such a range the 1st number, 2, 6, 9 I would expect indicate an increase in features, IF the last 2 numbers are the same (in this case 45). So calling the 245 a 255 and the 945 a 955, would have made much more sense to me, because it would depict a new generation within a range.

Hmm so I bought my 645M last week (the black & copper version) for £289.99 from Wiggle in the UK. Having paired it with my phone I can no longer return the watch. Would you consider that good value vs the 245M at £299 ? I kinda want to sell it already and buy the newer watch but that’s because I’m always drawn to the latest model. I’ve resisted so far and probably just need to stay strong ????